THE PRESIDENT: Loren, thanks for having us. Let me say a couple
things before we get started here. First, thanks for coming out to say
hello. We're here, obviously, to talk about one of the great strengths
of America, which is the entrepreneurial spirit of our country, the
small business men and women who create the new jobs. And we're
talking about jobs. And I want to thank you all for being here today
to talk about your businesses and/or your personal lives.

Just a couple of things I want to remind our fellow citizens about
-- we've done a lot, we've overcome a lot, when you think about what
this country has been through in a short period of time. First of all,
as Loren mentioned, things starting going bad in 2000 for this
business. In other words, we were headed into a recession. And that's
tough when there's a recession. That means negative growth. It means
businesses, in order to survive, sometimes lay people off, which,
worse, means that some of our fellow citizens are looking for work and
are having trouble feeding their family.

And then the enemy hit us. Just as things were getting a little
better, we got attacked. And let me take a step back. I'm never going
to forget the lessons of September the 11th, 2001. The only way to
deal with these cold-blooded killers is to stay on the offensive and
bring them to justice, which is precisely what America will do.
(Applause.)

And then we had some CEOs in corporate America forget what it means
to be a responsible citizen. You might remember, right after the
attacks, when the great resiliency of America came forth and the
country began to recover from this unbelievable period of time, it
turned out that we found -- there were some corporate scandals, and
that affected our confidence -- tough laws that sent a pretty clear
message that if you betray the trust, if you don't tell the truth to
your shareholders and employees, you need to be held to account. That
means justice needs to be sent your way. And that's what's happening.
And then we had a march to war, and that all affected the people's
confidence.

And so when we talk about job creation and job growth, it's
important to understand, we have come through a lot, which speaks
really to the greatness of America, doesn't it? It speaks to the
greatness of the entrepreneurial spirit, to the high productivity of
the American work force. We're the best workers in the world. I think
it speaks a little bit, as well, to the policies we put forth. I want
to thank the members of the United States Congress who are here from
the great state of Michigan.

A lot of them have come over here, for which I am grateful. We
passed tax relief, and I want to talk a little bit about tax relief as
we go through the panel and its effect on economic recovery. Because
when people have more money in their pocket, it means they're going to
demand an additional good or a service, or likely demand a good or a
service. And when that happens in our economy, somebody will produce
it. And when somebody produces the good or a service to meet the
demand, somebody is more likely to find a job. And so not only did the
tax relief help hardworking Americans, with the pressures on their
families and education needs, but it also helped the economy.

And the other thing I want to remind people about is that the tax
relief was also geared toward small businesses. Most new jobs in
America are created by small business owners. You just heard Loren
talk about -- they laid off workers, they replaced those workers, and
they've added workers. There's all kinds of companies like Dynamic
Metal across the country that are adding workers, one or two or three
at a time. And that's the vibrancy of our economy. And the Congress
wisely cut the -- provided incentives for small businesses to invest.
And if the proper incentive is in place, it means people will buy
equipment and computer software, and that means somebody is likely to
find a job as they provide that equipment for small businesses.

The other thing is, most small businesses do not pay corporate
income tax. They pay tax at the individual level because they're a
sub-chapter S or a limited liability partnership. And therefore, when
you hear us talking about reducing all taxes on individuals, you really
hear also the message that we're reducing taxes on small businesses.
And when small businesses got more money in their coffers, they're more
likely to expand and someone will find a job.

So what we're here today is talk about good economic policy. But
really what we're here about is to make sure people can find a job. I
mean, things look pretty good, the growth is high. Today the
purchasing manager's index was released which shows the manufacturing
sector of the American economy is coming back pretty strong. But my
attitude is, so long as we have one of our fellow citizens out of work
and who wants to work, says we've got a problem. So let's keep a
pro-growth policy in place. We're here to emphasize the role of the
small business in providing that job opportunity.

I want to thank both the small business managers, as well as the
employees for joining us. And, Loren, after that kind of long-winded
explanation of why I'm here -- (laughter) -- take over.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate the story. It's indicative of how
small businesses work. You'd better be light on your feet and willing
to change in order to survive, be flexible and fast to meet the needs
of your consumers. Listen, government can create an environment in
which the entrepreneurial spirit remains strong. But we can't make you
successful. That's up to you. And I appreciate you just laid out your
strategy. I hope your competitor isn't listening. (Laughter.)

MR. EPLER: We're up to the challenge. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Well, anyway, thank you for sharing that.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: A couple of points that Sam made. One, we need an
energy policy. If you noticed, he said energy costs are high. And we
need clean coal technology. We need an energy policy. We need to
encourage conservation and certainly efficiencies. But in order for
manufacturing concerns to be vibrant and vital, they need reliable
sources of energy. And I appreciate you bringing that up.

The other thing is, Sam, is I understand these tax cuts save you
and your family about $2,000.

MR. DOMKE: For this next tax year, yes. And that's great. I can
really use the money.

THE PRESIDENT: The other thing, as I understand -- we had a little
visit beforehand -- that Sam had a chance to refinance his home. Maybe
some of you have done that, as well. Part of the vitality of the
economy is the fact that people are able to refinance because of lower
interest rates, which puts a little money in the pocket because you've
got lower monthly payments. But the $2,000 is an important part of an
economic recovery package. You see, it's his money to begin with. And
we hear people say, well, the government is giving government money.
It's not government money, it's the people's money we're talking
about. It's the hardworking people that make this economic grow.

My attitude is the more money you've got in your pocket, the more
likely it is your family is going to be okay. But more importantly,
the more likely it is it will increase the demand for a good or a
service.

MR. DOMKE: I know we had the $800 checks that came back for the
child credit, and that came in quite useful.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Actually, when the government said the
check's in the mail, it actually was. (Laughter.) One of the things
about the tax cuts that's important for people to understand is they're
not permanent, they're temporary, because of a quirk in the law. And
particularly, in the United States Senate, after a period of time, the
tax cuts go away. And so one thing we need to do and make sure this
economy stays strong is to make the tax cuts permanent. We don't want
the child credit to go down. That will affect you. It's like a tax
increase. We don't want the marriage penalty to be as onerous as it
used to be. We want the tax cuts to stay permanent, so that people --
small businesses can plan and citizens can plan their lives.

And so one of the ways that Congress can respond to the economic
recovery and to make sure that this recovery keeps going is to make
these tax cuts real and long-lasting. I'm for it, I think it's
essential that we do this. And I hope Congress joins. (Applause.)

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Again, government can create an environment to
encourage investment. It's up to you to produce the product so people
want to invest with you, or buy your stuff. And I presume the reason
why you're doing good is you've got a good work force.

MR. ZIMMERMAN: Yes, we do. In fact this is a --

THE PRESIDENT: Two of them happen to be here.

MR. ZIMMERMAN: Let me put them on here. This is John Krynak and
Cliff Daniels. Pass it on to John.

MR. KRYNAK: Mr. President, it's good to be here. It's an honor
and a privilege to have you here. I'm a family man myself. I was
fortunate enough not to be one of the 10 percent that was laid off.
I'm very thankful for that. Spectrum is a wonderful company.

I'm blessed to have a wonderful wife, Krystal, and I have four
children, two daughters, seven and nine, and two boys, 11 years old.

THE PRESIDENT: Twins?

MR. KRYNAK: No, we're a blended family.

THE PRESIDENT: Good.

MR. KRYNAK: So we got $1,600 back.

THE PRESIDENT: That's good. (Laughter.)

MR. KRYNAK: We got $1,600 back for this year. It came in handy.
Went down to Myrtle Beach. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Somebody had to feed you when you're down there, so
you helped that person keep a job. But you also got some tax relief
from the reduction of the rates, as I understand it -- $2,700 somebody
told me.

MR. KRYNAK: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: I'm not putting numbers in your mouth. (Laughter.)

MR. KRYNAK: Yes, the tax relief can be a big help this year.
Income is still not quite where it was, but I'm thankful that it is on
the rise. Overtime is back -- kicking right now. I'm ready to put my
shoulder to the wheel, keep it going.

THE PRESIDENT: I suspect old Tom is happy to have you working with
him.

MR. ZIMMERMAN: Very much so. A good person. Same with Cliff.

* * * * *

MR. DANIELS: I want to retire. Your plan if you can sign --
your Medicare prescription bill, is going to help me immensely.

THE PRESIDENT: It is going to help you.

MR. DANIELS: With this plan I should save about $5,000 a year.
And I do want to thank you for that very much.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank the Congress, they finally got moving.
(Applause.)

MR. DANIELS: One more thing, sir. Can you make a presidential
order that our local football team, the Detroit Lions, win a road
game? (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: No. (Laughter.) If I could, I might be thinking
about some of those Texas teams. (Laughter.)

I appreciate you bringing up health care. Small businesses have
got an issue with health care. I think if you were to talk to these
owners they'll tell you, small businesses need to be able to pool risk
in what's called Associated Health Care Plans. Congress needs to allow
this to happen so that you can share risk across jurisdictional
boundaries. And that will help with health care costs.

I appreciate you bringing up Medicare. The people in the Congress
worked hard to get a good bill out. And I think it's going to make a
difference in a lot of seniors' lives. It will mean we've kept our
promise. It's also going to make a difference in the lives of those of
us who are fixing to be seniors. It means you're going to have more
choice in the marketplace, plus prescription drugs will be available as
part of the basic Medicare package. And those who can least afford it
will get the most help, of course, from the government. So I thank you
for bringing that up.

The other thing for health care, by the way, is it's very important
that we have a society that allows a person to sue a bad doc if they
get hurt. But we don't need a society in which there's junk --
frivolous lawsuits being filed all the time, which raise the cost of
medicine, particularly to these businesses. (Applause.) It hurts
these small business owners when these people file these lawsuits over
and over and over again. And therefore, for a while -- I looked at
this issue for awhile, and then I decided it was a national issue
because it affected our Medicare budgets, the Medicaid budgets, the
veteran health care costs, because docs practice what's called
defensive medicine. If they think they're going to get sued, they'll
provide more medicine than needed. And you would, too, if you were a
doctor who thought you were going to get sued. And that, then, makes
medicine more expensive and it runs the cost up for you, as well as the
employers all around the country.

And then the other thing that happens is, docs have to pay a high
premium for liability reform -- insurance, and they're starting to quit
the practice of medicine, which means now, medicine is more expensive
and less available. And so we need medical liability reform.

I want to thank the members of the House who are here who voted
with us on that bill. It's a good piece of legislation. It's stuck in
the Senate, however. We need to get it out of the Senate.

And so that can help us. I'll tell you the other thing that I
think is important for these small business owners to hear is at the
state level -- and I know that Terri Lynn is here and the Attorney
General is here, and others from the state of Michigan are here -- we
need less paperwork requirements on small business. Less regulations
and the paperwork that these owners have to file -- same, by the way,
at the federal level. It's one thing to regulate; it's another thing
to over-regulate. And a lot of times government has a tendency to
over-regulate, which is a non-productive cost to these small business
owners who would rather be employing people and making it easier for
somebody to find work, than filling out reams of paperwork that
probably doesn't get read anyway.

Finally, I know there's a lot of talk about trade. I just want you
to understand my position on trade. If you're good at something, we
ought to try to find more markets. And we're good at a lot of things.
We've got the most productive work force in America. And we've got
some of the greatest farmers in America. And we've got some of the
greatest entrepreneurs in America. And therefore, it seems like, to
make sense to me, that we ought to be opening up markets for us to sell
our goods. But the other thing I want you to understand is we're going
to make sure it's fair. We want the playing field to be level, so we
can compete in a fair way.

But those are some of the things that we can do to keep the economy
growing. And that's important. We're really here to talk about how to
sustain the economic growth. About 286,000 new jobs were created over
the last three months, and we need more. I think the foundation is
laid. You've heard these two business owners talk in terms of their
hiring new people and how confident they are, and that's good. We've
just got to keep it going. We want everybody in the country working.
We want the people who have the responsibility to put food on the table
to be able to find a job to do so. We want to answer that human desire
of a responsible dad to be able to say to his four children in this
case, here's something not only for you to eat, but something for you
to maybe put aside for your education. That's what we want.

And a vibrant economy will provide that opportunity for people to
seize the moment. And we've got some people up here who -- one has
already seized the moment. He kind of looks like he's going to try to
quit seizing it, but you never retire, by the way. (Laughter.) You
never retire. And we've got some great workers and great owners up
here.

I want to repeat to you that the entrepreneurial spirit of America
is strong. And we aim to keep it that way. We want people owning
their own business. We want people to feel like if you want to be a
small business owner, there's a chance for you. No guarantees of
success, but the opportunity is available -- for people from all walks
of life, I might add, all throughout our society. One of the great
strengths of America is the fact that we've got a lot of people that
say, I want to own my own company, and feel confident in trying to
start that business and making it work. It's really what makes our
society such a vibrant and wholesome place.

We're looking at two people right here who have taken on the tough
task of running a small business. It's not easy. It may look simple
when you hear them talk about it, but it's hard work. But it's the
creativity and the spirit of the entrepreneurs in America that I think
sets us apart, and kind of the backbone and vibrancy of our society.

I want to say one other thing, and then I promise to be quiet. I
met a guy at the airport today. Where is he? Did he come out? There
he is. This is a good man. This is Brad Simmons. You probably never
heard of Brad. I hadn't either until I landed. The reason I mention
Brad is he works for Ford, but more importantly, he is in charge of
encouraging Ford employees to volunteer in your communities. See, he's
taken it upon himself to tap into the true spirit of the American soul,
and that is that spirit that says, I want to help a neighbor in need.
And Brad's particular focus has been on Boy Scouts. But he's got a
broader job at Ford, and that is to say -- to encourage volunteerism.

You know, the reason I like to talk about people like Brad -- as
I told Brad, he is a soldier in the army of compassion in our country.
It's the Brad Simmonses of the world who really define the true
character of America. You see, our strength is not measured by the
size of our military or the size of our treasury. Our strength is
measured by the size of the hearts and souls of our fellow citizens,
people who are willing to love a neighbor just like they would like to
be loved themselves. Brad reflects the true spirit of America. He's a
great credit upon the country.

And for those of you who are doing your duty as responsible
citizens, whether it being a good mom or a dad or helping a neighbor in
need, I want to thank you on behalf of a grateful nation. The strength
of America is the people of this country. And it's my privilege to be
the President of such a great country.